2026 local estimate · updated 2026-07-22
Cost to remodel a kitchen in Seattle, WA
A typical kitchen remodel in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area runs $76,885, with most projects landing between $10,984 and $142,786 — about 10% above the national average.
Low
$10,984
Basic materials, simple job
Typical
$76,885
What most people pay
High
$142,786
Premium materials or complex job
What's priced: Mid-range remodel of a typical kitchen — new cabinets, countertops, sink and fixtures — without moving walls or relocating plumbing. Excludes permits, structural repairs found mid-job, and premium upgrades.
Why Seattle is more expensive than average
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area earn about 28% more than the national mean for the same occupation, per Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. Because kitchen remodel is roughly 35% labor, that difference flows straight into the total.
Cabinets and countertops are the largest line items in a kitchen remodel and are bought rather than built on site, so materials carry most of the cost. Labor share rises on gut renovations that move plumbing or electrical, and falls on cabinet-and-counter refreshes.
Get a number for your own job
The figures above are for a standard project. Your size, materials, and access will move them. Run your own specification through the calculator, then apply the ×1.281 local labor factor to the labor portion.
Open the kitchen remodel calculator →Permits for a kitchen remodel in Seattle
Issuing authority: Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI)
Seattle usually doesn't require a permit just to install kitchen cabinets, and minor repairs or alterations are exempt too as long as they cost $6,000 or less in any six-month period. When SDCI's valuation-based fee schedule applies, work valued $1,001 to $25,000 is $325 for the first $1,000 plus $1.60 for each additional $100 of value; from $25,001 to $50,000 it's $709 for the first $25,000 plus $1.55 for each additional $100.
SDCI's 2026 base hourly rate is $292 per hour. Because the fee scales with the value of the work rather than a flat rate, a higher-end remodel pays more in permit costs.
When a permit is needed
- “Miscellaneous work. These projects usually don't require a permit: ... Installing kitchen cabinets” — City of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), Do You Need a Permit? | SDCI (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “Minor repairs or alterations. You don't need a permit for minor repairs or alterations that cost $6,000 or less in any 6-month period.” — City of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), Do You Need a Permit? | SDCI (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Fees
- “$1,001 to $25,000 $325 for the first $1,000 of value plus $1.60 for each additional $100 of value or fraction thereof” — City of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), SDCI 2026 Fee Subtitle (SMC Chapter 22.900, effective January 1, 2026) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “$25,001 to $50,000 $709 for the first $25,000 of value plus $1.55 for each additional $100 of value or fraction thereof” — City of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), SDCI 2026 Fee Subtitle (SMC Chapter 22.900, effective January 1, 2026) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “1. Building, with or without mechanical, with or without use 100% of DFI 100% of DFI” — City of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), SDCI 2026 Fee Subtitle (SMC Chapter 22.900, effective January 1, 2026) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- “The 2026 SDCI base hourly rate will be $292/hr.” — City of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), SDCI 2026 Fee Changes summary (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Quoted verbatim; not recalculated.
Rules set by the state of Washington
- Washington requires remodeling contractors to register with the state: Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (retrieved 2026-09-23)
Also covers Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace
Both are Snohomish County cities inside the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area, which is the area BLS prices, so the labor figures on this page are their figures. There is no separate Seattle suburb estimate to look up: those communities are priced by the same carpenters wage data as the figures above, so a kitchen remodel there typically runs $76,885, with most projects between $10,984 and $142,786.
Metropolitan-area membership follows the area definitions BLS publishes its OEWS metro estimates against — May 2025 reference period. What genuinely varies inside a metro is the individual property, not the labor market: roof pitch, access, and how much has to come off before anything goes on. Price your own job.
Nearby metros
- Kitchen remodel in Chicago, IL — typically $76,517
- Kitchen remodel in Boston, MA — typically $75,831
- Kitchen remodel in New York, NY — typically $75,562
Compare kitchen remodel cost across every US metro we cover — the same labor-adjusted model as this page, ranked from most to least expensive, if you want the national picture rather than Seattle alone.
How we calculate this
We take a national installed-cost range, split it into labor and materials, and scale only the labor half by this metro's actual wage data. That is the whole model — no black box, and reproducible from the figures on this page.
- National range: $10,000–$130,000, from our kitchen remodel cost data (last verified 2026-07-13).
- Labor share: 35%. An industry rule of thumb, not a measured value — the softest assumption here, which is why we state it rather than bury it.
- Metro labor factor: ×1.281, being the mean annual wage for Carpenters in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA divided by the national mean for the same occupation.
- Materials: held at the national level. We vary labor by metro and hold materials at the national level. That is deliberate: shingles, copper, HVAC equipment, and cabinets are nationally traded and priced, and what actually varies locally is freight and sales tax — both small next to the labor spread. We have no metro-level materials index we can defend, so rather than invent one, we vary only what we can source.
Wage source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), metropolitan area estimates, May 2025. A U.S. Government work, in the public domain and free to reuse. Where BLS suppresses wage data for a metro, we publish no page for it rather than fill the gap with an estimate.
Educational estimate only. A real quote for your specific property beats any model, including ours — get at least three.
Related
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to remodel a kitchen in Seattle, WA?+
A typical project in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area runs about $76,885, with most falling between $10,984 and $142,786. Of the typical figure, roughly $31,384 is labor and $45,500 is materials. That puts Seattle about 10% above the national typical cost of $70,000.
Why is it more expensive to remodel a kitchen in Seattle, WA than the national average?+
Almost entirely labor. Carpenters in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area earn about 28% more than the national average for the same occupation, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. Because kitchen remodel is roughly 35% labor, that wage difference flows through to the total. Materials are priced nationally and barely move between metros.
What's included in these Seattle, WA estimates?+
Installed cost — materials plus labor for a standard project of this type. It does not include permits, which vary by municipality, structural repairs discovered mid-job, or premium upgrades. The range reflects genuine variation in scope and material grade, not uncertainty about the metro. Always get at least three local quotes before budgeting; a real quote for your specific property will beat any estimate, including ours.
How is this different from a national average with the city name swapped in?+
We split the national installed cost into labor and materials, then scale only the labor half using the actual mean wage for Carpenters in this specific metro area, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Materials stay at the national level because we have no defensible metro-level materials index — shingles and HVAC equipment are nationally traded, and only freight and sales tax really vary. Where BLS suppresses wage data for a metro, we do not publish a page for it at all rather than fill the gap with a guess.